Elon Musk has responded to Bill Gates’ comments from last week when he said that the Tesla CEO is “killing the poorest children”. Musk has questioned Gates’ credibility when it comes to the welfare of children. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk said: “Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children, given that he was very close with Jeffrey Epstein?” He added: “I wouldn’t want that guy to babysit my kid.”

For context, Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender and financier who was accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls, with connections to many powerful figures. Earlier this year, Gates spoke about his relationship with Epstein – although he only acknowledged it years after Epstein died in 2019. “In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him..I think I was quite stupidIt wasjust a huge mistake,” Gates’ had said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Musk’s remarks about Gates follow a recent interview where Gates criticised Musk’s role in cutting US foreign aid as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. Gates has said the budget cuts could lead to millions of deaths, especially in countries still battling diseases like HIV, measles and polio. “The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said.

Musk has often shown pride that he shut down large parts of USAID. Reportedly, nearly 80 percent of the agency’s programmes have been eliminated. In 2023 alone, USAID is said to have allocated close to $44 billion globally for aid and development efforts.

Meanwhile, Gates has warned that major cuts to global aid budgets could reverse decades of progress in reducing child mortality. “The number of deaths will start going up for the first time… it’s going to be millions more deaths because of the resources,” he said in another interview. He has also argued that while private foundations like his can help, they cannot fully make up for the shortfall in public funding.

Musk had hit back earlier in a post on X, calling Gates “a huge liar”. On Tuesday, he doubled down when asked if he had looked into Gates’ claims. “Yes, I would like him to show us any evidence whatsoever that that is true,” he said.

The Gates Foundation plans to increase its annual spending to $9 billion by 2026, eventually reaching $10 billion a year. Gates predicts the foundation’s total spending could hit $200 billion by 2045.

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